Souri
Souri (総理, Sōri) is a minor but often-appearing character in the Blade of the Immortal series. He is a retired kenshi who was once the best friend of Rin Asano's father and now makes his living as a painter. He has a daughter, Tatsubo, who is about Rin's age and Rin's childhood friend. He and Rin are close friends. Story After hiring Manji, Rin tries to recruit Master Sori as an extra sword on her quest to avenge her parents' death at the hands of the Itto-ryu since he was her father's best friend, but Sori refuses since he is no longer a kenshi and wants to focus on his art. Instead, he helps her by giving her thirty ryo to assist her on her quest. Later, as master Sori is travelling, he comes across a heavily-injured Manji along with a blood-soaked Hyakurin and Shinriji. It takes him a moment to recognize Manji and Hyakurin. He briefly comments about the scene before him and then is interrupted by Hyakurin, who asks him for help watching over Manji as she looks for his severed limbs. He is visited by Hyakurin and Shinriji who come to his house to see Manji. Hyakurin asks to see Manji, and Sori is left alone with Shinriji, who he asks for his blood to paint with. Some time later Hyakurin decides to leave and when Sori asks her why she's leaving so early she replies that she's leaving at the request of Manji. After she leaves, Sori goes to Manji's room to scold him for ordering Hyakurin to leave. Manji then asks him if the Mugai-ryu is under the shogunate. Sori tries to be coy, but Manji tells him to cut the crap. Sori then tells him that the answer to that question is yes and no as the Mugai-ryu is a sword school made up of death row convicts to go after the Itto-ryu and that Manji should consider joining him as he is a criminal, wanted dead or alive. However, Manji is still reluctant to join as he feels Hyakurin led him into a trap. Sori then tells Manji that Hyakurin was once the wife of a samurai he knew who has been dead for three years and that Hyakurin is a convicted criminal sentenced to beheading and impaling for killing her husband. Manji complains about how her "tip-off" was all a wild goose chase and he didn't obtain the tsuko-tegata ''(pass out of "Edo") he needed to follow after his charge, Rin Asano. Sori replies that if Manji wanted a ''tegata, he should have come to him instead since he can provide him with as many as he likes. Sori continues, saying that Manji should not have gone to the Mugai-ryu since criminals like them can never obtain a tegata legitimately and that he could have gone to anyone else. Manji is outraged by this information since he wound up hacked to bits for nothing. Sori replies that he wasn't beaten for nothing because if he hadn't been beaten he wouldn't have been brought to him, ergo he wouldn't have learned that he could freely obtain tegata passes. Sori moves with his daughter, Tatsubō, around Edo periodically, and they rent rooms out to earn more money on top of Sori's painting. Personality Master Sori is very friendly, has a very cool but thoughtful personality and always tries to be of help to others. Relationships to other characters His daughter is Tatsubō, an old friend of his best friend's daughter, Rin Asano. Sori and Tatsu are close, but Tatsu is often exasperated by his lack of taking care of the places they rent out. Sori is always deeply engrossed in his painting and is rather miffed when Tatsu returns to live with him, unannounced, after she leaves her husband. Master Sori is almost a father figure to Rin as he cares for her and helps her how he can. Sori has very friendly feeling towards Manji, Hyakurin and most everyone else. He once took inspiration from Magatsu Taito's hairstyle and drew a picture of it. Weapons and fighting skill Weapons Sori has not been in a serious fight, but he is shown to have a standard katana. Skill Even though he isn't a fighter, Master Sori beat Magatsu in a fight with ease, and he was good enough to be scouted by Rin early on as a second bodyguard. Quotes * "I like your head. Exemplary rebellion. In two hundred years, your style will be all the rage." * "Th... that's it!!! Yes! This is it! This is exactly what I've been looking for! That color you can't get from all the dyes and paint in the world-- '''Primal Red!!'"'' * "But can you believe it, Rin? He actually '''took' that loud-mouthed little witch."'' *''"So... What's your excuse? Were you abandoned at birth on Mount Takao and raised by monkeys?"'' *''"I've killed anti-shogunate dissidents on the orders of the council of elders. I've sold out other artists, my peers... even my own friends! I've dragged my sword through the mud!"'' *''"A person... who treats art like... like a DOORMAT... is not welcome in my house. GET OUT!"'' Trivia *His seiyuu previously voiced Manji in 2008 anime series List of appearances: Volumes Issues Other Category:Characters Category:Male characters Category:Secondary characters Category:Shinobi